08 August 2006
Viva electronics!
Celebrating the many achievements made by electronics engineers could be key to making electronics seem a more attractive career path to students. By Elaine Essery.
The dearth of engineering graduates – and electronics graduates in particular – is not a new phenomenon. However, as numbers continue to decline, the impact on the electronics industry is becoming more acute. Inadequate teaching in schools, a poor image among young people and failure of government to intervene are contributory factors. Leading campaigners are sending out a rallying call for more joined-up action from government, companies, individuals – the entire electronics community – to tackle the root causes.
Statistics paint an alarming picture. Latest UCAS figures show a marked year on year drop in the number of applications for electronic and electrical degree courses since 2002. Applications received this year are a worrying 17.7% down on those in 2005. These figures stack up with a decline in students taking relevant A-level subjects: in 2004 there were only 28,000 entries for physics and 8,000 for computer science. Maths entries fell by 16.5% between 1996 and 2003.
Author
Elaine Essery
Supporting Information
Downloads
6722\Viva-Electronics.pdf
Websites
http://www.arm.com
http://www.setnet.org.uk
http://www.yeda.org.uk
Companies
ARM Ltd
This material is protected by Findlay Media copyright
See Terms
and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the
sales team.